FEATURED ARTISTS

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present the Four Corners of Realism, our most recent group exhibition highlighting the latest work of Anthony Mastromatteo, Viktor Butko, Carl, Bretzke, and Sarah Lamb. This exhibition will open on Saturday, September 28th, with a public reception from 5:00-6:30 pm. All are invited to attend and meet three of our four exhibiting artists.

Towards the end of the 20th Century, a groundswell of interest created a proliferation of classical ateliers. When an artist decides to enroll in a classical atelier, they are determined to learn how to paint in the Realist style. An atelier will teach an artist the traditional methods gleaned from the masterminds of the Renaissance, from accurate drawing, the study of human anatomy, a deep study of the relationships of values, refined methods of blending pigments, etc. After completing their academic training, an artist is most likely painting with a limited palette to exemplify a seriously observed subject and portray them in the most naturalist way possible. This study often yields muted still-life paintings of fruit beside wine, or a figure standing nude in contrapposto, against a neutral backdrop. These academic paintings are of course well done, and sincerely impressive. However, the path an artist takes forward, after their training, is what most interests us at Grenning Gallery; Where an artist takes their training, and how one will become king of their canvas. This show compares four distinct pathways of four accomplished Mid-career painters. Whether it be finding a brighter, more vibrant palette, painting outdoors amongst the elements, or taking a highly refined approach and applying it to an obscure or clever subject.

Two artists in this exhibition hail from Water Street Atelier, a classical painting academy in New York City founded by Jacob Collins in the late 1990’s (now in a new location and known as Grand Central Academy). Sarah Lamb (b.1972 | Virginia) mastered her training and has become Nationally known for her striking still lives, which capture an object’s luscious texture with intricate detail, and as king of her canvas, Lamb’s work exudes elegance. Her colors are natural, and her compositions appear somewhat traditional, yet entirely fresh. This year, Lamb has delivered three stunning new compositions. In “Shells” Lamb has arranged five pristine pearlescent seashells atop a minimalist grey ledge. Each shell appears utterly unique, with distinct curves, points, and caverns. However, it is the artist’s divine compositional choices that convince the viewer these shells are each one of a kind. These may be five of the exact same shell, simply arranged in their distinguishing poses. It is Lamb’s excellence in formulating her subject that results in a completely thought-out, and expertly executed masterpiece.

More than two decades ago, Anthony Mastromatteo (b. 1970 | Ohio) studied alongside Lamb at Water Street Atelier. Although he received the same training under Jacob Collins, Mastromatteo has taken his paintings to an entirely different realm. His work is technically refined, and beautifully composed, yet suffused with a deep knowledge of art history and philosophy. His paintings are not the typical structure for a realist painter, in contrast, they consist of bright colors, utilitarian props like masking tape, and usually an element of pop-culture. Irony is never lost on this artist, who cleverly declares that “Trompe L’Oeil was the first Modernist movement” and proves his claim via his own hyper-realist oil paintings which force the viewer to dive deep into their psyche; discerning reality from artifice in various subjects both foreboding and sometimes hilarious.

“Vertigo” does what is impossible to do in real life—it makes eternal the moment before this comic clipping of Daredevil inevitably folds over because of the way it is taped—aesthetically rather than functionally. The painting is forever held in suspense. Daredevil, blindly walking the tightrope between two buildings is suspended as well. The anxiety of everything crashing down and falling apart represents a vulnerable side of Mastromatteo’s state of mind as an artist, even as a person. However, there is so much opportunity when you are on the precipice. Daredevil might just get to the other side safely and become “the world’s two most famous initials” as the comic states. And Mastromatteo, in the process of creating a painting (a process of self-doubt and trial and error) might just create his own “Marvel Masterwork.”

Viktor Butko (b. 1978 | Moscow) received his training first from his classically-trained mother and grandfather, and then formally at Moscow’s Academic Art Lyceum at the Russian Academy of Arts. In Butko’s training, he learned to paint strictly from direct observation. He applies his knowledge of value and color to compositions of the world around him. Butko spends lots of time each year on Shelter Island, painting views at their golden hours. Sunset Shelter Island shows an idyllic setting, where the viewer is situated on the grass, beside a tall tree at sunset. The sky evolves from bright blue to a clouded purple and bright orange where the sun peaks out. The sea is cloaked by the shadowed clouds, and hints of sailboats at rest adorn the horizon. Butko’s expert composition with the attenuated backlit tree is just one of many markers of his classical training.

Carl Bretzke (b. 1954 | Minnesota) has been honing his craft as a painter for decades, without a degree from a classical atelier. Instead, Bretzke earned his skills while receiving training from Plein Air Painters of America’s signature artist, Joseph Paquet. Bretzke has won awards for his esteemed abilities as a plein air painter, but sometimes, Bretzke will take his work back to his studio. Swimming against academic traditions, Bretzke sometimes works from a photograph, which is fitting due to the cinematic quality of his compositions. As a young man, Bretzke worked part-time assisting a professional photographer. This experience explains his outstanding and consistent compositional sensibility. We are grateful for Bretzke’s ability to apply observational disciplines when he is back in his studio, as he has delivered three brand new Sag Harbor scenes despite not having been to Long Island since 2022.

In Long Island in December Bretzke presents a Sag Harbor home on Capitan’s Row on a cloudy December day. An old Rolls Royce parked out front adds luxury and nostalgia to an otherwise humble landscape. Sag Harbor cove glistens blue in the background; still waters reflecting the overcast sky above.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present its 17th Annual Solo Show for Ben Fenske! The show will be on view from August 29th - September 22nd. Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, August 29th, 6:30 - 8:00 PM.

It’s that lovely time of year, when the humidity tamps down, a cool breeze picks up, the sun remains whole past 7 pm, and the bustling jam-packed streets on the South Fork start to feel a bit emptier. After the high season of summer begins to slumber, a singular unassuming dynamo finally lands from overseas to unveil his latest series of impressive neo-impressionist paintings. Ben Fenske (b.1978, Minnesota) is known for his spectacular paintings of familiar, commonplace subjects. The moments Fenske chooses to capture are seemingly simple; pretty flowers, a sumptuous lunch setting, or a woman seated beside a window, reading a book, or taking an afternoon nap. Outdoors, he paints her walking a dog along the hills of Tuscany, standing along the Harbor’s shoreline, fixing up her hair, bending over to collect seashells, or again, taking an afternoon nap, but this time enmeshed in the summer grass. These moments could be overlooked at first glance, yet it’s Fenske’s use of urgent, slap-dash brushstrokes, a vibrant mix of colors, and a continuous investigation of the colors cast by natural light that result in overwhelmingly mesmerizing paintings.

With the Tuscan countryside at his doorstep, it would be difficult to not feel drawn to the outdoors. However, Fenske doesn’t paint for the perfect summer day that Italy so often offers up, he searches for the interesting light effect that the atmosphere may create, whether it be a foggy morning with a storm on the horizon or a blindingly bright sunny afternoon. Last year, Fenske seemed to be taken by the darker earth tones and muted neutrals around him. This year, Fenske digs heavily into his lighter yellow, green, and blue paints for a new take on familiar themes.

Fenske’s largest work of the show is a composition we have not yet seen from him. A woman (his muse, and our painter, Amy Florence) walks with their dog Buddy, in a vineyard near his house. Although breathtaking, Fenske stops short of idealizing the scene—Amy wears a coat and boots, and Buddy trots briskly ahead, almost escaping being painted into the canvas. Fenske is able to capture that this is just another day, trudging into the brisk air to take the dog for a walk—and along the way, passing through the mesmerizing landscape of where they live and work.

In summer now, Fenske turns his attention to a feast of cantaloupe and wine (along with the ever-present blue teapot)—speckled with light through a canopy of foliage. One can’t help but want to be sitting there, at the place Fenske has set for the viewer, diving into the fruit being warmed by the sun and cooled by shade. Just a suggestion of the hilly landscape beyond peaks through the breezy trees.

Even with the most picturesque atmosphere outside his door (Window) during the majority of the year, Sag Harbor is never far from Fenske’s mind. Sag Harbor Panorama was created at his farmhouse in Tavarnelle, just from memory and pictures. While many of Fenske’s paintings are snapshots of everyday life, inviting you to take part (with an open door, or empty seat at the table) this panorama envelopes the viewer, making them feel as if they are really standing at the shore of the Sag Harbor bay.

Fenske melds painting from life and memory in Yellow Dress and Beach, where he no doubt had Amy posing in Italy, and imagined her onto a North Haven beach. In Yellow Dress we are presented with a proper lady, dressed in a flattering summer frock, arms raised behind her head as she pulls her air off of her neck. This gesture, common in the summer heat, exhibits a striking stance of contrapposto; a stance which connotes beauty, as famously captured by Gustave Courbet in The Woman in the Waves (1868), or Edgar Degas in Woman Combing her Hair (1890).

Beach, on the other hand, demonstrates an unsightly posture, where the figure bends over, unclothed, reaching down to pick up seashells. This pose is certainly one anyone can relate to yet is not common as a subject for a major painting. One may recognize this stance in 19th century realist paintings, where painters took to farms to capture laborers gathering wheat as in Millet’s The Gleaners—or the early 20th century paintings from soviet painters Alexei and Sergey Tkachev, (Laundresses 1957). Fenske, however, showcases a nude woman bent over, not engaging in hard labor but on the contrary, taking her time, collecting seashells at her leisure. Fenske is most interested in the way light hits her bent body, accentuating muscles rarely pronounced. Like a student, Fenske is transfixed by the anatomical forms within the human body.

Another two paintings present figures engaged in a beloved pastime, the mid-day nap. One takes place indoors; a nude woman resting comfortably atop a bed; her room a soft hue of yellow. The overall mood of Bed is quiet, peaceful, inert. The Red Dress on the other hand, showcases a frenzy of elements, from the dappled light surrounding the figure, to the motion of the grass vibrating with the breeze. Taking her nap en plein air, she has to cover her eyes from the intensity of sunshine.

New compositions of Lilacs, poppies, and daisies will be unveiled, as well as a series of local scenes that are yet to be painted! Fenske will spend the next month in Sag Harbor, and we are eagerly awaiting his next visions.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present our fourth annual Solo Exhibition for local expressionist painter, Darius Yektai. This exhibit will be on view from Thursday August 8th through Sunday August 25th. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Thursday August 8th, from 6:30-8:00 PM.

One question most asked by visitors to the gallery is, “Are these artists local?” and although the Grenning Gallery represents many artists who are international or out of state, we are delighted to host to several exceptional local artists. Darius Yektai (b. 1973 Southampton, NY) is our local classical expressionist, whose work is often inspired by his immediate surroundings; the ocean, flowers, his home in the Long Pond Greenbelt, and often, the viscosity of paint itself.

This year, Yektai offers new pieces of his ever popular and infinitely mesmerizing “Waterlily” paintings, as well as a bold continuation of his abstract “Falling Flower” series. However, what we’re most excited about is a new series of paintings from his recent travels from colorful Costa Rica to snowy Chamonix, France.

The bold Costa Rica paintings were the first new paintings we saw at his studio in January. Every Grenning staff member agreed, these would be shown in Yektai’s Solo Show in August.

Surfing is one of Yektai’s favorite pastimes, and you will find him at the ocean in Sagaponack every morning in summertime. Every winter, Yektai departs our frosty beaches in search of warmer sand and satisfying surf. Costa Rica has become one of his favorite spots to retreat to, and this year he generously invites the viewer to join him on his tropical spree.

Large, bold flowers molded by his recognizable swaths of paint overlay scenes of everyday life in Central America. In Nicoya Street, we’re greeted by a local vendor selling drinks from a cooler. Figures mill about in the background, tending to their own separate matters. A dirt bike is spotted outside a building just beyond our vendor, kickstand engaged—a preface to the next painting in this series Costa Rica Rider.

Here, a figure motors up a road flanked by sumptuous greenery on a naturally picturesque sunny day. Again, gigantic pink flowers eclipse the entire scene…perhaps a way for the artist to stamp his mark upon a foreign place he’s grown to feel at home within. In both compositions, Yektai splats thick, oily paint atop his landscape in a way which adds to the atmosphere – it’s as though we can feel the humidity standing on the sidewalk in Nicoya Street, and smell the dew-covered jungle as we speed along the road in Costa Rica Rider. Even though he is venturing outside of his usual subject matter, we are still seeing this new setting through a lens that is unmistakably Yektai’s.

There are several spaces of Darius Yektai’s mind that are yet to be discovered by his viewers. One style of painting only accounts for a tiny corner in the artist’s broad-roaming psyche. Although most know him for his audacious handling of vibrant paints and experimental media, at his core, he is an enthusiastic student of art history; and most abstract artists in history began painting from what they saw, resulting in a traditional landscape or portrait. There is a stylistic spectrum that Yektai is constantly fluctuating within—on the one end, traditional naturalist paintings of recognizable scenes; and on the other end, a wild abstract field of shapes and color which allow the viewer’s mind to wander. First View, Liberia Airport falls into the latter category. There is no resin, no splatter, no enormous flowers intersecting the scene. However, we get a clean and quiet snapshot of a view he yearns for each winter – a view that, upon first sight, confirms that’s he’s once again in his happy place – a warm place to surf.

Fast forward to nearly 6000 miles Northeast to the majestic mountains of Chamonix, France. Again, Yektai generously offers us another observation upon arrival to his destination with First View of Switzerland through the Alps by Train—this time on a grand scale. Whereas First View Liberia is a scene from a small airplane window, Yektai hunched over in his seat catching what sunlight he could as the plane raced to a halt, First View Switzerland displays Yektai’s impressions as he was situated on a slow-moving train with big windows, allowing the artist to soak in the majesty around him. Although not entirely naturalistic in execution, Yektai shows unusual restraint by utilizing only one medium throughout the entire canvas, and the overall composition is legibly digestible as a conventional landscape; albeit mystical and impressionistic. Furthermore, this painting recalls the delicate stain and scumble technique of ancient Chinese scroll paintings on rice paper.

Snow appears to be a natural subject for Yektai’s expressionist and textural style of painting—as displayed in his series of paintings from the French Alps. Layers of fluffy snow translate almost effortlessly to the luscious white, lavender, blue, and even red paint depicting the subtle shifts in light and shadows on the mountains. In Powder Day a skier turns quickly in the same way Yektai uses his paint brush—with a quick and easy whip—and with similar effects: a spray of snow (paint) in the atmosphere (panel). This time, the splatter effect implies a frigid environment – cold and surrounded by flurries.

In Lunch on the Slope: Courmayeur, we’re placed atop the snow-covered crag, with Yektai in the foreground bundled in his parka and carrying bags of ski equipment. Compositionally, he is very successful at putting the viewer IN the snow; gracefully directing our eye from one subject to the next.

Yektai is turned away from the viewer, his attention fixed on a black dog standing in the snow, just ahead. His ski-companion dressed in a vivid scarlet snowsuit, leads our eye up to the venerated Ristorante Chiecco, emphasized by colorful flags which invite skiers inside for a luxurious break from the elements and fine Italian cuisine. The forest in the background is made up of jagged grey vertical lines. The raw canvas peeking out from beneath the “snow” underscores a sense of distance.

Obviously, pronounced, thickly painted flowers are still very much a staple in Yektai’s oeuvre. This year, we have two 60-inch-square paintings of White lilies. In Large Lilies Square, buttery white paint blossoms from dark green stems ascending from the lower right. The background is a joyous abstraction with bright yellow and cool teal hues. In Large Lilies Jute Square the same white flowers reach out, this time from the lower left. In fact, the two large paintings could make up a single diptych and resume as a consistent single composition. Quite the reverse from the former, this canvas takes advantage of the raw jute, which makes up the most of the flower’s backdrop.

An exciting new series out of Darius Yektai’s studio this year, shows reflections of nature and people—a continuation of the Waterlily theme, but now more than ever, highlighting the reflectiveness of the water represented by the poured resin on top of and underneath the oil paint. It becomes muddled where nature stops, and the reflected image starts. In Skimming Tern, a bird flies along the surface of a pond, a glittery trail of paint in its wake amongst an otherwise nearly untouched canvas—save for the long-limbed drooping branches of willow trees. The branches reach across the center of the diptych, confirming to us this is one painting made from two canvases. The lower canvas presents the reflected image of the bird, amidst a neutral palette of waterlilies. Of course, a layer of reflective resin bolsters this claim.

Created within the artist’s Sag Harbor studio, The Patio Lesson celebrates Yektai from all angles; large tulips in a white ceramic vase, a distant landscape with trees on a hill, and ghostly outline alluding to a figure seated on a piano stool. A wide-checked tablecloth adorns the surface set for the tulips, each line holding a variety of colors mixed within the brushstroke. Yellow leaves seem to sprout from beneath the table, signaling a setting abundant with florae. A distant landscape beneath a blue-sky peaks out of the upper right background, like a window to beyond from the foreground. This entire composition is Yektais response to Henri Matisse’s 1916 painting “The Piano Lesson” which presents the artist’s living room, a still life atop the piano, seated figures to flank both sides, and a large window, presenting a slanted view of flat “green” allows for only a peek at what dwells beyond. Matisse, who is known for his latent use of vibrant colors instead uses a monochromatic palette of greys. I believe Yektai takes inspirational composition from this 1916 painting, but his palette is inspired by an earlier Matisse circa 1905, The Joy of Life.

Furthering this vision of bright, joyous hues, Yektai embraces the fauve’s vigorous color palette in his latest Falling Flower series. Aptly titled, these abstractions are emphatically whimsical, presenting flowers scattered amongst slapdash lines and shapes which blot atop and stain the clean white background.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present our first Solo Exhibition for world renowned artist, Hunt Slonem. This exhibit will hang from Thursday July 11th, through Sunday, August 4th. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Thursday July 11th, from 6-7:30 PM.

2024 has been a banner year for Hunt Slonem. The famed artist continues to be celebrated with extensive exhibitions from esteemed institutions like the Albany Institute of History and Art in New York, The Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans, and opening this November, the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Moreover, the San Antonio Botanical Garden is hosting “Huntopia,” the first-ever garden exhibition from Slonem—allowing viewers to step into a whimsical world of plants, florae and Slonem’s larger than life sculptures. The Grenning Gallery is thrilled to be a part of Slonem’s successful year with our first Hunt Slonem Solo Exhibition opening Thursday July 11th.

Hunt Slonem returns to Grenning Gallery as the sole exhibiting artist in July with varying configurations of his iconic black and white bunnies. He, of course, elaborates on this subject in various colors, sizes and compositions. It goes without saying, these simple flick-of-the-wrist rabbits have become synonymous with Hunt Slonem – some say it’s his signature motif. These bunnies often sit atop one another, squeezing together tightly as if in anticipation for a family photograph. Although repetition is clearly a vessel for Slonem’s creative output, each bunny embodies its own individual identity.

Slonem continues the theme of individualistic identity in “Rare Species,” where he points out a singular winged beauty in purple, beside a flock of blue and white butterflies of similar stature, all atop a regal gold backdrop.

Brand new to the gallery, is the standout painting “Ocelots Salvador” – wild spotted felines sit and saunter within the confines of a flat pink backdrop adorned with blue spots. A maximalist composition accentuating bold patterns, colors, and the vivacity of wild animals. A picture which at first glance is fun; playfully pink and polka dotted, is also threaded with an air of danger. These rare, gorgeous wildcats are carnivorous predators – not the cuddly kitten that sleeps at your side.

Hunt Slonem mixes his own pigments, a specialty being his metallic paints. A recipe unique to his own studio, the gold paint Slonem uses shimmers with distinct excellence, vivifying his subjects with resplendent charismata. In “Dendrobians” Slonem casts a sprouting of tall orchid stalks pollinating atop a gilded setting. In “Dashing” and “Yard” Slonem shows us two sets of couples—a pair of owls and a duo of rabbits—in similarly striking gold paint.

Hunt Slonem has said: “Nature is divine and unique, and I’m thrilled to be on this planet.” A sentiment that reigns throughout his entire exhibition. The thrill is palpable.